Social Media at Work: Pros and Cons

Today's Social Networks such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, hi5 and others are changing the way  companies all around the world do business and build professional relationships. These Social Networks provide a wealth of opportunities for companies, big or small, to attract and retain new talent. It is estimated that the most popular social networks (Facebook, Twitter and MySpace) have an estimated 800,000,000 users combined- making them highly attractive to those companies looking to expand their reach  for the best and brightest; build and maintain a cohesive, interconnected line of communication within the organization, and propel the organization forward.


A Study conducted by AT&T survey 2,500 employees in five European countries. Of the employees using social networking sites:

• Sixty five percent said social networking made their colleagues and themselves more efficient workers.
• Forty six percent found that it gave them more ideas and made them more creative.
• Thirty eight percent found that social networking helped them to gain knowledge and come up with solutions to problems.
• Thirty six percent reported that social networking allowed them to collect knowledge about employees and customers.
• Thirty two percent asserted that sites created team building opportunities.

Pros

• Networking, Collaboration and Information sharing
• Boost Innovation and Knowledge Creation
• Increased Productivity
• A More Cohesive Workforce
• Retention of Old and New Talent
• More Attractive to New Hires
• Increased Productivity

Cons

• Privacy Threats
• Cyber Bullying/Cyber Stalking
• Data Leakage
• Brand Credibility
• Potential Lost Productivity

Overall, Social Networking positives outweigh any negatives such as web threats, leakage of company's sensitive data, etc. By setting security and usage policies, companies can rest assure the Social Networks can be used as a asset and not threat to the organization.

In the book "Social Media at Work" by Alcalde-Marr and Kassotakis, we learn of all the many different facets of the Social Networking revolution and how it can change the way companies do business in a positive and profitable way. There is also a negative side to allowing social networking (p160) in the workplace and rules and boundaries ought to be set. A clear company philosophy, restricted usage time, use of caution when referring to company's clients and sensitive information, be mindful of copyrights and other legal issues, as well as a comprehensive disciplinary action policy to be strictly enforced which may include suspension and/or termination. These guidelines should be part of any effective Social Networking policy.

I found the following articles to be very helpful

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/10-things-you-should-cover-in-your-social-networking-policy/875


http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=114230045


http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpposted/archive/2009/02/15/social-networking-in-the-workplace-a-smart-business-strategy.aspx